Props rarely enjoy the rugby limelight, but in Townsville they stole the show as five different front-rowers crossed the tryline in the Wallabies’ 56-17 demolition of Japan at Queensland Country Bank Stadium. All eight Australian tries came from the forwards, with Taniela Tupou’s first-half double, Massimo De Lutiis’s historic debut score as the 1,000th Wallaby, and further tries to Angus Bell, Josh Nasser and Brandon Paenga-Amosa turning the second Test of the Flight Centre Series into a front-row exhibition.
Key moments
7 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA: Excellent work from the Wallabies off a dominant scrum. Jorgensen finds Henry, who bursts over halfway, before the ball is worked wide right for Jorgensen to scorch down the touchline. Nasser finishes with a dart down the short side from close range. Lonergan converts from the right sideline. (Australia 7–0 Japan)
12 mins – TRY JAPAN: Harry Hockings charges down Lonergan’s box kick on the Australian try line and dives on the loose ball to score on his return to Queensland. Matsunaga misses the conversion. (Australia 7–5 Japan)
17 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA: Powerful series of carries from Salakaia-Loto, Bell and Henry takes Australia deep into the Japanese 22. Lonergan finds Tupou on the left, and the tighthead powers his way over near the posts. Lonergan converts. (Australia 14–5 Japan)
26 mins – TRY JAPAN: Saito catches the Wallabies napping after winning a ruck penalty. The scrum-half taps quickly and burrows over under the posts before Australia can react. Matsunaga converts. (Australia 14–12 Japan)
29 mins – TRY DISALLOWED AUSTRALIA: Paisami puts Henry through a hole with a short pass, Henry draws the fullback and finds Lonergan on his inside for what appears a spectacular try under the posts. The TMO rules Paisami’s pass forward. Japan scrum.
33 mins – TRY JAPAN: Japan take the lead. Dominant carrying from Makisi and Era takes the visitors deep into the Australian half before Riley muscles through weak tackling to score in the right corner. Matsunaga hits the post with the conversion. (Australia 14–17 Japan)
39 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA: The Wallabies regain the lead just before the break. Shaw claims the lineout, the maul is held, but the ball is worked through the hands. Wilson and Paisami make strong carries before Lonergan finds Tupou once more, and the big prop crashes over for his second. Lonergan converts. (Australia 21–17 Japan)
Half-time: Australia 21–17 Japan. A highly competitive opening 40 minutes with Japan matching Australia blow for blow. The Wallabies’ set-piece superiority and direct carrying brought three tries through Nasser and Tupou’s double, but Japan responded with scores from Hockings, Saito and Riley to briefly lead. A disallowed Lonergan try after a forward pass from Paisami was a turning point. Tupou’s second just before the break gave Australia a four-point advantage heading into the sheds.
47 mins – MILESTONE: Massimo De Lutiis enters the field to replace Taniela Tupou, becoming the 1,000th player to represent Australia in Test rugby.
51 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA: The lineout is superb, Gordon hits the defensive line at pace, and the forwards are unstoppable from close range. Bell crashes over under the posts to complete a hat-trick for the starting front row. Lonergan converts. (Australia 28–17 Japan)
59 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA: Wallaby number 1,000 scores on debut. Wilson steamrolls into the defensive line off the lineout, Lonergan’s box kick causes chaos, Gordon produces a brilliant broken-field run, and De Lutiis barges over from close range. Lonergan converts. (Australia 35–17 Japan)
73 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA: The Wallabies drive a 10-metre scrum almost unopposed through the Japanese pack. Cale scoops it up from the back and touches down. Donaldson converts. (Australia 42–17 Japan)
75 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA + YELLOW CARD JAPAN: Cale breaks the gainline twice, McDermott adds momentum, and Wilson dives over from inches after sustained pick-and-go pressure. Harada is sent to the sin bin for repeated infringements. Donaldson converts. (Australia 49–17 Japan)
80+1 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA: After the siren, De Lutiis taps a penalty, the forwards drive, and Paenga-Amosa — the fifth different front-rower to score — crashes over from close range to cap a dominant display. Donaldson converts. (Australia 56–17 Japan)
Full-time: Australia 56–17 Japan
It was only the second time in Wallabies history that every starting front-rower had scored in the same Test, last achieved 36 years ago when Ewen McKenzie, Phil Kearns and Tony Daly crossed against the United States. Even Japan coach Eddie Jones could only marvel at the damage inflicted by Tupou and company.
“He must have thought there was a free pizza every time he scored a try today,” Jones said of the Racing 92 tighthead. “I’ll have to go and see him after the game. I might take him a pizza in. They get pretty excited near the line.”
In front of 18,076 fans, the result gave Les Kiss a second consecutive win and a clean sweep of the series, extending the Wallabies’ perfect record against Japan to nine matches stretching back to 1975. It was also the first time Australia had won three Tests in a row since the start of Joe Schmidt’s tenure in 2024, providing a significant shot of momentum ahead of a demanding Rugby Championship campaign.
The final scoreline, however, flattered the hosts. The opening half was a fierce arm-wrestle, with Japan matching Australia blow for blow and briefly taking a 17-14 lead through tries from Harry Hockings, Naoto Saito and Dylan Riley. It was only Tupou’s second close-range try just before the break that sent the Wallabies into the sheds with their noses in front at 21-17.
Kiss’s half-time intervention proved decisive. “We had a chat at half-time about how we better manage our kicking game, our work on and off the ball, just a little bit of those areas where we gave them a bit of scope to be able to play their quite fast and furious game,” Kiss said. “But we were cool and calm and collected to a degree at half-time. We just made sure we got the right things right.”
Carter Gordon, returning at fly-half for his first appearance since the Ireland Test in July, showed early why many believe he is the answer to Australia’s long search for a consistent number 10. The 25-year-old took on the defensive line from his first involvement, producing chaos-ball offloads that set his outside backs into space. It was his enterprise that created the platform for the opening try in the seventh minute — a flowing backline move sparked by a dominant scrum and an Isaac Henry burst that left Japan short on numbers, Max Jorgensen scorching down the touchline before Nasser burrowed over from close range.
Japan struck back through Queensland-born Hockings, who charged down a Ryan Lonergan box kick on the Australian try line to peg the score back to 7-5, before Tupou bulldozed his way over for the first of his double to restore the lead. The Racing 92 prop, looking faster, fitter and happier after his season in France, was a constant menace close to the line — running onto the ball at pace and proving simply too powerful to stop from short range.
Embed from Getty Images
The Wallabies squandered their momentum with fumbles and penalties, however, and Japan’s livewire scrum-half Saito caught the hosts napping with a quick tap to score under the posts and make it 14-12. The visitors then seized the lead for the first time when Riley muscled through passive Australian tackling to finish in the right corner. A brilliant Isaac Henry linebreak that sent Lonergan diving under the posts was cruelly ruled out after the TMO judged Hunter Paisami’s short pass forward, denying what would have been a spectacular try.
Tupou’s second just before the break proved critical, the big tighthead running onto Lonergan’s pass at pace to crash over near the posts and restore Australia’s lead at the interval.
The second half belonged entirely to the Wallabies. The hosts reduced their missed tackle count from 10 in the first half to just four after the break, and their dominance at the breakdown strangled Japan’s supply of quick ball. Openside flanker Carlo Tizzano was outstanding, winning three turnovers at the ruck in his best Test performance, while Jeremy Williams, Paenga-Amosa and the introduction of Fraser McReight from the bench only intensified the pressure. Kiss was so taken by the McReight-Tizzano combination that he coined a nickname on the spot. “McZzano,” he chuckled. “I would have liked another five minutes of that, but at least we saw it as a snapshot.”
Bell drove over under the posts in the 51st minute to make it 28-17, completing the starting front-row hat-trick. Then came the moment the crowd had been waiting for. De Lutiis, the 22-year-old Gold Coast junior who rejected approaches from Ireland to commit to the Reds, had entered the field in the 47th minute to become the 1,000th player to represent Australia. Eleven minutes later, Gordon produced a brilliant broken-field run to set up the position, and the prop who famously bench-pressed a record 202.5 kilograms at Ballymore powered over from close range to seal a dream debut.
Embed from Getty Images
“I was over the moon,” De Lutiis said. “When Les told me, I started tearing up a bit and started crying in his lap, which is pretty embarrassing. But I was just so stoked. Player 1,000 is awesome, but just to be a Wallaby in general is just crazy to me. A dream come true.
“When I scored, I was just over the moon. Couldn’t believe it. First try ever, so pretty good debut try.”
Kiss was equally moved. “What a debut, it’s not an accident,” he said. “He’s a very coachable, unassuming type of character, but just works hard and grafts hard on his main craft, which is the set piece. I was really pleased with how he went. It was a bit of a dream debut for him, wasn’t it?”
Charlie Cale iced the contest in the 73rd minute, scooping up the ball from the back of a scrum that the Wallabies drove almost unopposed through the Japanese pack. Captain Harry Wilson added another from inches after sustained pick-and-go pressure, with Japan replacement hooker Mamoru Harada sent to the sin bin for repeated infringements. Paenga-Amosa — the fifth front-rower to score — capped a superb afternoon off the bench with the eighth and final try after the siren to take the score past 50.
Wilson was candid about the difference between the two halves. “Our spark probably wasn’t there in the first half, and we got challenged by Les at half-time,” the captain said. “A team like Japan, if you’re not up for it, they really make you pay. I was really proud of the group in that second half. We went through the front door and were physical. We had a lot more spark.”
Jones acknowledged the Wallabies’ second-half dominance with characteristic bluntness. “They won the air, they won three kicks down the right-hand side, won the breakdown, so that’s about 11 positions,” he said. “You get that weight of positions, we weren’t good enough to defend our errors. It was just a pressure of position and congratulations to Australia. They played well in the second half.”
Japan captain Warner Dearns struck a more reflective tone. “Credit to the Wallabies, they came out and gave it to us in the second half, which we obviously couldn’t keep keeping up with,” Dearns said. “We did it well in the first half, but we couldn’t keep it going in the second half.”
Henry was superb on his first start at outside centre, his direct running repeatedly buckling the Japanese defensive line and giving Kiss a genuine selection headache when Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii returns from injury. Winger Jorgensen left the field after 65 minutes with a rib complaint after taking an accidental knee from Wilson, though Kiss confirmed afterwards the injury would be monitored rather than being a major concern. Tupou is set to be available for the upcoming tour of Argentina under World Rugby’s regulation nine laws, while centre Len Ikitau has begun running again on his ankle injury.
The Wallabies now have a fortnight before heading to Argentina for two Rugby Championship Tests — in Jujuy on 30 August and Mendoza on 6 September — where the real examination of Kiss’s tenure will begin.
Teams
Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Isaac Henry, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Harry Potter, 10 Carter Gordon, 9 Ryan Lonergan, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Charlie Cale, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Lachlan Shaw, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Josh Nasser, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Aidan Ross, 18 Massimo De Lutiis, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Fraser McReight, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Filipo Daugunu.
Japan: 15 Takuro Matsunaga, 14 Yoshitaka Yazaki, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Shunsuke Uenobo, 11 Haruto Kida, 10 Ryunosuke Ito, 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Faulua Makisi, 7 Tiennan Costley, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Warner Dearns (c), 4 Harry Hockings, 3 Shuhei Takeuchi, 2 Hayate Era, 1 Takato Okabe.
Replacements: 16 Mamoru Harada, 17 Sojiro Otsuka, 18 Izi Sword, 19 Jack Cornelsen, 20 Michael Leitch, 21 Itsuki Kamimura, 22 Samisoni Tua, 23 Kazuma Ueda.
Match details
Australia 56 (Tries: Nasser, Tupou 2, Bell, De Lutiis, Cale, Wilson, Paenga-Amosa; Conversions: Lonergan 5/5, Donaldson 3/3)
Japan 17 (Tries: Hockings, Saito, Riley; Conversions: Matsunaga 1/3)
Half-time: 21–17
Attendance: 18,076
Venue: Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
International2 weeks ago
International1 week ago
International1 week ago
Top 142 weeks ago
International1 week ago
South Africa3 weeks ago
New Zealand2 weeks ago
International4 days ago